


A Return to Form

by PaddieCake



Series: Hargreeves Family Spaghetti Bowl of Fun [6]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Don't worry Luther gets a real hug too, Fluff, Gen, Good Sibling Five, Luther Hargreeves gets a (metaphorical) hug, Luther Hargreeves gets a human body, Minor Angst, Minor Time Lapse, Other Hargreeves and Loved Ones mentioned but not otherwise important, and boy howdy is it atypical for this fandom, but i want to be different so don't fight me, or do fight me i don't care, so does Vanya, some minor shipping, they don't need the hugs they just like them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23552728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaddieCake/pseuds/PaddieCake
Summary: The one where Luther gets his human body.Or:The one where Dave and Diego have a friendly arm wrestling competition and Klaus isn't even there to see it.Or:The one where I make some shipping switcheroos and no one can stop me.
Relationships: Luther Hargreeves & Everyone, Number Five | The Boy & Luther Hargreeves
Series: Hargreeves Family Spaghetti Bowl of Fun [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674742
Comments: 2
Kudos: 107





	A Return to Form

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to write something to let Luther get his body, and I'm getting closer to more plot stuff so I wanted to get this out of the way.
> 
> This sort of takes place sometime between... Questions Answered and Unanswered and maybe... Mating Dance, questionmark? Tentative timeline?
> 
> I mean what even is time if there's time travel anyway, amirite?

Luther slowly got up from bed, ambling towards his dresser. He glanced up at his mirror for a second before averting his gaze. 

It had been two weeks since they've gotten back. The Apocalypse, so far, had been avoided, Vanya was getting more and more used to her powers. They were still working on their relationship, he was just glad she was giving him a chance.

Luther got dressed, pulled his coat and gloves on, and sighed. He looked at himself again before nodding. 

"Hey, have you seen Five?" Luther asked the first sibling he spotted, Diego, of course. But they were getting better. 

"I just woke up, brother. Maybe he's still asleep." He said with a yawn.

Luther gave an annoyed huff before nodding. He wasn't going to pick fights, that's what they agreed on. "Ok, thanks." 

Diego stopped short, opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. "You're welcome."

Neither of them sounded particularly sincere, but they were  _ trying _ . Sort of.

He almost went up to Five's room but then decided to just head downstairs. 

Five was already down there anyway, it seemed, clutching a mug of coffee. 

Luther coughed a bit to get his attention. Five looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhm… I was just curious about… Well you said before about maybe… altering that serum?" Luther said cautiously. "For… to uhm…"

Five's face softened a bit. "Of course, let me wake up a bit and I'll talk to mom and Pogo." Five said, motioning with his mug. 

Luther gave him a tentative smile. "Thanks, Five." He said, sitting down as Grace came back in to finish making breakfast. 

\--

Luther woke up, another week had gone by. They had gained a new member of their family, at Klaus' insistence. Luther was still a bit wary about Dave, but, well Klaus was happy, and seemed healthier than he had before.

Allison was talking to Patrick more now, Diego and Patch were getting on, Vanya was flourishing at the Orchestra, she said she was even making new friends. 

Ben was alive, working on getting into school.

Five was… working. Luther blinked as he spotted Five in the infirmary, currently doubling as a lab, with Grace working diligently next him.

"Oh, good, I was just about to come get you. I need a blood sample." Five said, looking up. 

"Oh, uhm, yeah, of course." He said, removing his jacket and rolling up his sweater and presenting Grace with his forearm. 

"No more than a pinch, dear. We don't need a lot." She said, swabbing his arm with an alcohol wipe. "You must be so excited, I'm so glad Five suggested this." She said 

"I wish I had remembered sooner, we could have been further along." Five said apologetically.

Luther chewed on his lip before nodding. "I'm glad there's even a chance at all that I could have my normal body back. You really think this could work?"

Five looked up as Grace finished drawing blood, putting a little BandAid on the spot. "All done!" She said brightly. 

"Thanks mom." 

"I do. Think it could work. We're definitely getting somewhere." He said, jaw set in determination.

Luther smiled.

\--

Luther was sitting at the kitchen table, watching Diego and Dave arm wrestling. He didn't exactly know what led to it, other than the tail end of a conversation they were having about Dave's time in the army. 

Luther was sipping at coffee, eyeing them both with mild interest. 

"I call winner!" A voice called, bounding into the kitchen and plopping onto a chair. Luther smiled up at Charlotte, though she preferred to be called Lottie.

She was Vanya's new girlfriend, and a little awkwardly the woman from the rave Luther had… relations with… Not that  _ she _ remembered that.

There was a lot of talking involved, both between him and Vanya, and both with Charlotte, she took it surprisingly well. Vanya had been nervous about  _ how _ well she had taken it, but she was certain that she wasn't being manipulative. Lottie had taken to the family pretty quickly either way. 

"You might be awhile, they've been at a stalemate for ten minutes." Luther said.

"It's only because I'm rusty." Diego said, narrowing his eyes at Dave.

"Oh, of course. The trained superhero, ex-vigilante, and police officer in training is  _ rusty _ ." Dave said with a smirk.

"You're not winning either, asshole." Diego muttered. 

Luther looked between the two before jostling the table with his knee. It startled both men, causing Dave to slam Diego's hand down against the table.

"Oops." Luther muttered into his coffee. Diego's face went bright red, trying very hard not to shout at Luther, or start a fight.

He did kick Luther in the shin and then immediately hissed in pain since he wasn't actually wearing any shoes.

"Dammit, Luther, what the Hell?" He said, rubbing his foot. 

Luther was trying hard not to laugh, but Dave and Cherry had no such compunctions as they both burst out into laughter. 

"Ahem." Luther and Diego both stilled, straightening up and growing silent at the noise. They glanced at each other, and then towards Five. 

"Jesus, you sound just like dad." Diego muttered, relaxing.

"Sorry. Anyway we need to go, I made an order the other day and I need you to come pick it up with me." Five said, looking at Luther.

"Uh, why do I need to come?" He asked, tugging at his sleeves. 

"Because I need… a physical adult to pick up some specialty items. And I said it would be you." He murmured, crossing his arms.

Luther blinked. "Uh, yeah, sure." He said with a nod, standing up.

They headed to the post office in silence, deciding to walk. 

It was a nice day.

"What are we picking up anyway?" Luther asked. 

"Some chemicals for the serum. It's very close, I think. I should be able to test it on you in a few days." 

"Oh, wow… I… Thanks." He felt a warmth in his chest, knowing he was getting closer and closer to his new body… or his original one, he supposed. "I can't believe it's almost done." He said softly.

Five patted his arm as they entered the post office. There was a small line, and as they queued up the woman in front turned to face them for a second.

"Oh, you're Vanya's brothers, right? Uh… Five and Luther." She said, pointing first to Five, then Luther himself. "I saw you at our last concert. I keep forgetting you're all… you know." She said, waving her hand around. "Helen, by the way." She said, putting a hand out.

Luther and Five looked at each other, Luther reaching out to shake her hand politely. She eyed him a bit, smiling softly before turning around. 

Luther felt himself blush, and as the line moved he heard Five chuckle at him. 

Helen was next, and gave them a small wave as she left the post office.

Five and Luther picked up the package, a foam box that, once home and opened, was filled with ice packs and smaller boxes containing bottles of various chemicals.

Back in the infirmary, Five furrowed his eyebrows as he shut the window, the breeze having pushed some of his work onto the floor.

"Go get mom, we should have a finished formula in a few days, promise." Five said, motioning for Luther to do just that. 

He looked around for a moment "You've been sleeping, right?"

"Of course, this is child's play compared to the Apocalypse, not even worried." Five said, though there was a notable twinge in his jaw as he said it.

"Of course. I'll go get mom." He complied, leaving Five to work.

\--

Luther sat in the front row sandwiched between Allison and Five, Diego sat as far away from Dave as he could manage after calling him a cheater, much to Klaus' bewilderment. Eudora and Lottie sat on either end of the aisle as the curtains were lowered and the lights went up at the end of the concert. 

Luther was excited that he got to sit in the middle. He was still tall, as he had always been, and muscular, as strong as he was, and how much muscle training he'd been through, but to be able to sit comfortably in such a small seat, not feeling like he was out of place?

It was beyond words, not that he was ever good with them. 

Vanya came racing to them as they all gathered outside, getting pulled into a crushing group hug, and then a much gentler, tender one, from Lottie. 

Luther stood back a bit, just enjoying not taking up as much space as he had grown used to. 

He turned around as he felt a tap on his shoulder, blinking at Helen in surprise. "Oh, hey."

"Hey. I came here to congratulate Vanya, she was amazing as always."

"Thanks. You all did really well, too." She said, wrapping an arm around Lottie's waist.

Helen gave her a small smile, before turning to Luther. "I kind of regretted not giving you this before." She said, handing him a slip of paper. She made no indication that she had noticed any difference in his body shape. "Call me sometime." She added, before walking off to catch a cab. 

A wolf-whistle echoed into the air, followed by a muffled 'ouch', but Luther decided to ignore it, instead smiling dumbly at the paper in his hand. 

**Author's Note:**

> Did I just decide to semi-ship Raver Girl/Vanya? Yes, yes I did.
> 
> Did I in turn decide to ship Helen Cho/Luther? 
> 
> Yep! 
> 
> Why? 
> 
> I have no idea! But it's a thing now, I'm not sorry.


End file.
